Moses Brought to Pharaoh’s Daughter

<p>Around 1747 William Hogarth completed a series of history paintings that were much more serious in tone than the satirical works on which he had built his fame. This drawing and <em>Paul before Felix</em> (2011.641) were both likely made after those paintings as studies for engravings. <em>Paul before Felix</em>, showing the apostle’s self-defense, was commissioned for the chapel of Lincoln’s Inn, where lawyers were admitted to the bar. <em>Moses</em> was similarly appropriate for its location, the London Foundling’s Hospital, as it shows the prophet’s mother reluctantly giving him up for adoption.</p>